Yankees’ Damaso Marte Hopes to Return by July

The Yankees left handed specialist Damaso Marte is expected to miss most, if not all of this season, after he had labrum surgery in his left shoulder. He was in the Yankees camp yesterday though and said he said he should start throwing soon and expects to be back by July.

“I think I can pitch this season because I feel very good,” Marte said.

It’s a nice thing to hear from Marte, but it doesn’t seem very realistic. Shoulder injuries are nasty things for pitchers and it almost always takes longer to recover from than is initially predicted. If he does make it back it could be a big lift whenever he does make his return.

The Yankees have signed Pedro Feliciano to replace him this offseason and still have Boone Logan as well, but Logan’s track record hasn’t been very long and Feliciano has been heavily used over the past three years. To make things worse, both pitchers have dealt with minor injuries already this season.

We’ll see what happens, but no matter what he says, it is hard to expect Marte back at all this season let alone July.